New study highlights need for better care to prevent lung problems after abdominal surgery

A new study, published today in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, has tested whether a set of interventions to keep lungs expanded before, during, and after abdominal surgery could lower the risk of serious breathing problems in patients compared to the usual care at 17 academic hospitals in the U.S. The research has determined that these interventions for open abdominal surgery do not result in less severe breathing problems as compared to the usual care in those hospitals.